Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
If big publishers tried to do this, they would fail miserably. Most customers won't check 10 different websites looking for books. Which is why, IIRC, Harper Collins (or one of the big 6) just closed its website.
And of course if you undercut Amazon or B&N, they will have no incentive to carry your products, and probably won't. That's why Amazon doesn't sell its Kindle cheaper than Target, and why Apple doesn't sell it's products cheaper than Walmart.
Now small publishers with defined product lines are different, and may have some success skipping Amazon and B&N and selling directly. But a publisher like HC, which publishes 80,000 titles per year, isn't particularly identified with anything.
|
I would have to agree. Even people who only read one or two books a month aren't going to want to have to find out who the publisher is so they can order direct. I know HC publishes some of my favorite authors but couldn't tell you which ones. Factor in subsidiaries and imprints and authors switching publishers it becomes a consumer nightmare.
That's partly why I don't understand why Amazon & BN etc caved on agency pricing.